WHAT'S VIVENDI GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Something big appears to be brewing at UMG parent company Vivendi. It involves the recent surge in musically powered films, as well as a name you probably haven't heard in a while: Duffy.
The French media giant also owns StudioCanal, which recently produced the Tom Hardy-led gangster flick, Legend. Interestingly, this blockbuster (already out in the U.K. and due in U.S. theaters 10/2) may serve as a launching pad for Island’s Duffy—the U.K. songstress who seemingly fell of the face of the Earth, after scoring the fourth-biggest seller of 2008 on her debut album, Rockferry. Five years after her sophomore flop, she’s returned with new single “Whole Lot of Love,” which is featured in the movie; two other original tunes are expected on the soundtrack.
Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine (pictured top left) has shared that the “Mercy” singer’s return on Universal Music Catalogue (and role in the film as singer Timi Yuro) is the product of a new focus on “cross-media collaboration,” as reported by Music Business Worldwide. Puyfontaine also announced that “UMG and StudioCanal are actively working together on other soundtrack albums.”
It’s a good move given the current gush of music centric cinema and highly successful soundtracks. Consider the Amy Winehouse-centered Amy, which recently became the highest grossing British documentary ever, and prompted Back to Black’s best sales since 2011. At the end of 2014, Frozen’s OST had the second highest sales number of the year with 4.5m, behind only Taylor Swift. Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Tape, Vol. 1 is still in the Top 50 U.S. albums, 59 weeks since its release, and is certified platinum. February’s Fifty Shades of Grey OST produced two radio charttoppers, The Weeknd’s “Earned It” and Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do,” which are both over 2x platinum. Then of course, there’s Straight Outta Compton, which took the domestic box office by storm, inspired Dr. Dre’s Compton and drove N.W.A.’s 1988 staple, Straight Outta Compton, into the Top 10 on the Album Sales Chart—its highest chart position ever.
Whether or not Legend will garner that same kind of reception is of course unclear.
On a larger scale, Vivendi’s move leaves us wondering what the company has up its sleeve, and contemplating the potential this concept of “cross-media collaboration” has as an avenue for success within the biz. Could this be a creative extension of artist development and a successful way to re-introduce fallen stars, who got stuck in the industry's web before reaching their full potential? Stay tuned for developments and—apparently— new music from Duffy.
